Card Range To Study

20 Cards in this Set

Organization extending to the whole society that can legitimately use force to carry out its decisions

Government

Widespread acceptance of something as necessary, rightful, and legally binding

Legitimacy

idea that government orginates as an implied contract among individuals who agree to obey laws in exchange for protection of their rights

social contract

goods and services that cannot readily be provided by markets either because they are too expensive for a single individual to buy or because if one person bought them, everyone else would use them without paying

public goods

free competition for voluntary exchange among indviduals, firms, and corporations

free market

Measure of economic performanc in terms of the nation's total production of goods and services for a single year, valued in terms of market prices.

gross domestic product (GDP)

costs imposed on people who are not direct participants in an activity

externalities

government transfers of income from taxpayers to persons regarded as deserving

income transfers

governing system in which the poeple govern themselves from the Greek term meaning "rule by the many"

democracy

individual dignity, equality before the law, widespread participation in public decisions, and public decisions by majority rule, with one person having one vote

democratic ideals

potential for conflict between individual freedom and majority rule

paradox of democracy

principle that government power over the individual is limited, that there are some personal libertiies that even a majority cannot regulate, and that government itself is restrained by law

limited government

rule by an eliete that exercises unlimited power over individuals in all aspects of life

totalitarianism

monopoly of political power by an indivual or small group that otherwise allows people to go about their private lives as they wish

authoritarianism

government system in which every person participates actively in every public decision, rather than deligating decision making to representatives

direct democracy

governing system in which public decision making is delegated to representatives of the people chosen by the popular vote in free, open and periodic elections

representative democracy

poplitical system in which power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of indivuals or institutions

elitism

theory that democracy can be achieved through competition among multiple organized groups and that individuals can participate in politics through group memberships and elections